1971 January Winter in Sault Ste Marie Joel and John's Birthdays

Winter 1971

   Last night we celebrated John's and Joel's birthday jointly—Joel, 24, and John, 25.

    Friends and families attended it. Louis Muio and Maureen Corbett who were planning to be married in May, Dave and Val Reid, Bob and Jay Booth, Mary and Jim,Wilf and I. Sid and Helen had it at their place. Mary Jane, Suzanne, and Michael, too.

    Mary Jane is beginning to look quite pregnant, expecting in May. Suzanne is still slim as a reel, expecting in July. 

   On the Sunday afternoon was the party for the children at Mary Jane's and John's apartment.They had the spare room partly furnished for a nursery. Mary Jane bought drapery material because she fell in love with a weird looking lion in the pattern. Sheila and Nora and Catherine were thrilled by the crib in the corner. Sheila and Nora gave Joel and John a chocolate bar and a box of jelly berries for their lunch boxes. Mary said they shopped for at least an hour before they could decide on the gift.

   Helen Olsen voiced the opinion of everyone, "1 can't think of a nicer way to spend a Sunday afternoon." They have certainly adjusted well to our total family involvement.Pictures were taken often to the point when John was taking a picture of Jim taking a picture of John.

   Wilf was playing in the Band concert in Thessalon. My first instructions were to have the car in the parking lot of Memorial gardens at 5 p.m. Jim was taking off for Wawa at 6 p.m..The party started to break up shortly before 5 p.m. Jim and Mary and their tribe left first. A few minutes later Catherine came back panting-‑

   Jim had left the lights on and the battery was dead.I had my coat on so I went down and gave Jim the keys to our car so he could go home, get the cables, and get a charge from one of the other cars.

   He got stuck getting out of the parking lot - a few pushes got him unstuck and was able to get up Pine Street.

   We waited and waited and waited. Time went on and I was due at the Gardens and somehow Wilf would not have understood that, with four cars available, ours had to be the one that was used. Finally Jim came back. I had a hard time getting up Pine Street, but I pulled into the parking lot as the Band bus pulled in at the other entrance.

   Confusion reigned in our winter version of a family do!